“You sure you don’t want any?”

Mingyu glanced over at his friend from the corner of his eye. With a frown, he shoved his hands in his pockets. “No thanks.”

Seungcheol shrugged and took a bite of his donut. “Suit yourself.”

They made their way down the sidewalk accompanied by Seungcheol’s soft chewing. As they walked, both of their phones vibrated. Only Seungcheol checked his. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he scanned the text. “Hey, Seokmin’s going to the market. Do you want anything?”

Interrupting his other thoughts, Mingyu tried to remember what he needed. “More cat food,” he replied.

Chuckling, Seungcheol placed the donut between his teeth and typed up the request. “Should’ve guessed,” he struggled to say.

After befriending Mingyu years ago, and then later becoming his roommates, Seungcheol and Seokmin quickly learned about the boy’s fondness for cats. All of the strays that wandered onto their balcony or hung out at their front door were adored by Mingyu. And since they didn’t live in the best part of the city, there were a lot of strays. He treated them better than he treated most humans. That’s because he liked them better than most humans. After moving in, his roommates learned to tolerate the smell and appreciate the felines. They never said anything bad about his affection, just the occasional tease. It was nice to see him happy.

“Seokmin’s asking if we want to join him,” Seungcheol continued.

“I can’t,” Mingyu answered. “Remember, I have that paper.”

His friend nodded. “Right. Do you want me to go home with you?”

Mingyu smiled softly. As distant as he was to other humans, Mingyu did have a strong connection with Seungcheol and Seokmin. Those two were accustomed to his nonexistent desire for social interactions. While respecting that, they always wanted to make sure Mingyu knew he wasn’t alone. Seungcheol, especially, made it clear that he was always there.

“I’m okay, hyung. You go.”

Seungcheol flashed him a smile as they reached an intersection. To the left was the way to their apartment. The right was for the market. Clicking both cross walk buttons, Seungcheol said, “We won’t take too long. Try to stay focused.”

“No promises,” Mingyu subtly joked.

Seungcheol patted him on the back as his light changed. Backing away onto the street, he gave a final wave. “I won’t be too long.”

“Take your precious time.” He smiled and waved back.

Laughing, Seungcheol turned around and jogged across the road. Mingyu watched until it was his turn to leave. His hands still in his pockets, he felt his phone vibrate against his right hand. He didn’t need to take it out. It was just Seungcheol telling Seokmin he was on his way.

As Mingyu continued his walk home, now only listening to the natural noises of the city, he once again lost himself in his own thoughts. Blindly taking the same path he took every few days from the university to his home, Mingyu didn’t pay much attention to what was going on. It wasn’t until a couple almost hit him with a door as they came out of a cafe did he see what was around him.

When he did, he grimaced.

The couple didn’t even notice him. The girl was too busy burying herself under the boy’s arm and the guy was too occupied with rubbing his cheek against her hair. To anyone else it might’ve looked cute, but not Mingyu.

Eww, he thought to himself as he watched them walk off. Unfortunately, they were headed in the same direction as him. He waited until they were a significant distance away before continuing his stroll.

If there was anything Mingyu hated the most it was couples. More specifically, he despised the idea of relationships. Seeing couples on the street automatically triggered his gag reflex. He found the entire concept to be idiotic. Why on Earth would anyone want to give up part of his or herself to be with another human? Why would anyone want to be involved with something that made them look so stupid? All of the kissing and hugging and cutesy crap was so disgusting in his eyes. And it’s not like Mingyu was ignorant to the idea of being in love. He couldn’t count all the times people explained to him that love makes people do crazy things, and everything is worth it in the end.

But that was the stupid part to him. He knew what love was. He felt it all the time, with cats and with his friends. He knew it felt great. So why would someone have to be in a relationship to try and feel that when they could without one? It was all so dumb to him. And he hated it.

Once Mingyu was finally able to get past the repulsive scene that had just played out in front of him, he tried to think of something else.

My paper, he thought, has to be at least twelve pages. I guess that’s not too bad. But what the hell am I gonna write about? What class is this for again? Literature? No, we just have to read a book for that. History? Right, it’s a history paper. What the ? How am I gonna write twelve pages on a history lesson. Well, I guess it’s not too hard. We’re learning about...oh , what’re we learning about? Umm...something to do with immigration? No, concentration camps? No, no. What the hell was it? Uhhh...oh, that’s right! We’re learning about—

All of a sudden, his thoughts were brutally interrupted. “OW!” he screamed as someone rammed into his right shoulder. It wasn’t until after feeling the initial pain did he realize he was being shoved into the alley on his left. “WHAT THE F—?!”

But he didn’t get to finish. An unfamiliar hand covered his mouth. An arm slammed him against the brick wall. “Shhh! Please! Don’t say anything!”

Mingyu’s shocked, darting eyes immediately looked down at the hand, then continued along the length of this person’s arm. Finally, his gaze met that of the culprit.

The guy had an intense stare that seemed stuck to his face. He glanced out of the alley a few times, but he was unphased. His shoulders were tense, but he didn’t seem panicked. His dark hair fell just on his forehead, brushing his eyebrows. He was about Mingyu’s age. “Please!” he whispered.

Mingyu was definitely on the verge of freaking out as it felt like the hand was getting tighter. Gripping the person’s arm, he tried to push back, but it was no use. What the hell was going on? Mingyu had never been in a situation like this before. His eyes were fixed on those of the mystery man. It wasn’t until he noticed the side of the guy’s face did he stop squirming.

Underneath his stare, in the upper part of his right cheek, there was a deep purple bruise. It looked fresh. Fixed on it, Mingyu realized he had been in a situation like this before. This guy had been beat up. He was doing what Mingyu had done so many times when he was a kid; he was running away.

Mingyu’s body relaxed and the guy felt him breathe against his palm. He eased up as well, but kept his hand there. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

His voice was deep and calm. Mingyu waited to hear more, but there was nothing. Everything was happening so quickly and his heart was racing. The boy was staring out onto the sidewalk. Mingyu followed his gaze.

With the two of them completely silent, Mingyu listened. His eyes grew wide as he heard the familiar sound of racing footsteps.

As they got closer, the stranger didn’t move a muscle. He just waited, forcing Mingyu to do the same. Then, after a few more seconds, two figures sprinted past the alleyway, not noticing anyone hiding there. They were only in view for half a moment, but Mingyu very clearly saw both of their hair colors: one’s was light, the other an unforgettable pink.

The moment they were out of view, Mingyu gave a deep sigh. He was relieved even though he had no idea what was going on. But the stranger wasn’t.

Wasting no time, the boy dropped his hands to firmly grip Mingyu’s shoulders. Staring into Mingyu’s eyes, the boy uttered, “Switch clothes with me.”

“What?!” But there was no time to argue. Mingyu couldn’t even comprehend what was happening. It was like he was hypnotized as this person started stripping off his own jacket. Then he ped and pulled off Mingyu’s. It all happened so fast. The next thing he knew, Mingyu was wrapped in an unfamiliar coat and an unfamiliar scarf. The last thing the boy did was swiftly pull off Mingyu’s hat and secure it to his head.

Adjusting the jacket to accommodate him a little better, the boy finally gave a sigh of relief. With a huge smile, he looked back up at Mingyu, whose face said everything he was feeling. The stranger could sense his confusion, making him laugh. He lifted his hand and lightly patted Mingyu’s frozen cheek, the one that corresponded to his own bruise. “Thank you,” he said gently.

Mingyu opened his mouth to finally say something, but he didn’t get the chance to. Immediately, the boy dropped his hand and dashed out of the alley, running away in the opposite direction.

Pumping his legs furiously, Wonwoo was glad that his body was used to this type of strain. Not looking back, he bolted down the straight until he could turn out of sight completely. Not even stopping to catch his breath, his run eased into a subtle walk. Finally safe, he could smile. He’d gotten really lucky that this stranger didn’t scream. He just went along. Usually, people required a little more persuasion before handing over their clothes. But thankfully not this guy. Cute, Wonwoo thought as he headed home, a satisfied look on his face.

Still stunned, it took Mingyu half a second to react. Jumping out as well, he began to call out, “HEY! WAI—!”

“Meow.”

Mingyu stopped and turned around.

Sitting next to a restaurant’s dumpster was a dark brown cat. In the shadows, its eyes were shining at Mingyu.

He instinctively grinned. My only witness, he jokingly thought.

Then he snapped back to the strange reality that had just occurred. He turned towards the path the boy escaped down. Squinting and straining his eyes, he knew to look for a dark blue hat in the crowd, but there was nothing. He was gone.

Mingyu was beyond confused. The ? What the hell just happened?

An image of that bruised face flashed in his head. Looking back into the alley, Mingyu found the brown cat coming towards him. He smiled again. Squatting down, he invitingly held out his hand. The cat rubbed his head under his palm, giving him license to pet away. Mingyu lightly the cat’s back, receiving the appropriate pur. Mingyu chuckled.

If only people were as easy to understand.

After gaining the feline’s trust, Mingyu tilted his head. “You saw all of that, right? I’m not going crazy?”

There was an affirmative pur.

He sighed and nodded. “That’s what I thought.”

After a few minutes, Mingyu reluctantly stood up. He remembered what he was thinking about before the whole incident. Regretfully looking down at his new friend, Mingyu explained, “I’m sorry, but I have to go. I have to write a paper on socialism in European countries.”

“Meow,” the cat detested. In protest, he rubbed himself against Mingyu’s pants.

“I know, it’s pretty stupid. Still, I have to go.” With one last between the ears, Mingyu backed away, leaving his companion behind. “It was nice meeting you,” he called back. The cat longingly watched the human go before returning to his spot in the darkness.

The cat I can talk to, Mingyu said to himself, mocking his own speaking incapabilities. What happened back there? Who was that? He just freakin’ shoved me, what the hell. The guy looked like he was pretty roughed up though. Hope it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. He has my coat. And my hat. What the hell’s wrong with me? Why didn’t I do anything? Well, at least no one caught him. He avoided any more bullying, if that’s what was happening. It definitely looked like that was what was happening. I guess my jacket’s a small price to pay if it helped him. His is pretty warm anyhow.

Thinking through everything again, Mingyu shoved his hands into his pockets. He gripped his phone in his left hand.

He stopped walking as he noticed the difference. Closing his eyes and preparing himself for the soul crushing confirmation, Mingyu took it out in his hand. He opened his eyes and glared down at the phone.

It obviously wasn’t his.